Chandigarh, Aug 7 : In an intelligence-led operation, Punjab Police in Amritsar arrested four people involved in cross-border arms smuggling and recovered seven sophisticated pistols from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav here on Thursday.

Those arrested have been identified as Akashdeep Singh, alias Akash (20), of Daoke village in Amritsar, Ramanpreet Singh (23) of Bagha Kalan village in Amritsar, Pratap Singh (25) of Sur Singh village in Ferozepur and Sarbjit Singh, alias Babbal (25), of Debi Wala Bazaar in Amritsar.

The recovered pistols comprise two 9MM PX5, two 9MM Glock and three .30 bore pistols.

DGP Yadav said the arrested accused were in contact with Pakistan-based smugglers and have been receiving illegal weapon consignments near the India-Pakistan border.

The accused were operating from border villages and further supplying arms to gangsters in the state.

The DGP said further investigation is underway to establish forward and backward linkages in this case to further uncover the entire network and its linkages.

Sharing operation details, Commissioner of Police (Amritsar) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said in view of enhanced security measures ahead of Independence Day, police teams, acting on specific intelligence inputs, have arrested Akash and Raman from the area under police station in Chheharta and recovered four pistols -- two PX5 9mm and two .30 bore.

Subsequently, their two accomplices Pratap Singh and Sarbjeet Singh were also arrested from the same area, and three additional pistols were recovered from their possession.

He said accused Akash resides close to the international border and he along with Raman used to receive consignments of arms from across the border, while, their associates Sarbjeet and Pratap were coordinating and handling the weapon supply operations.

With their arrest, a major criminal activity has been averted in the area, Bhullar said, adding more arrests and recoveries are likely in the coming days.

/IANS